Coaster



J1me 1953 e, LQRVAYMOND EIAL 2,641,911

COASTER Fil ed Nov. 29, 1951 INVENTORS GRACE L. RAYMOND HORACE H.RAYMOND Patented June 16, 1953 COASTER Grace L. Raymond and Horace H.Raymond,

Berlin, Conn., assignors to Raymond Engineering Laboratory, Inc.,Middletown, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application November 29,1951, Serial No. 258,870

The present invention relates generally to coasters and is moreparticularly directed to a novel and effective coaster particularlyadapted for use with drinking glasses and the like containing iced orchilled beverages.

As is well known, drinking glasses contain-.

3 Claims, (01. ss-ssr ing iced or chilled beverages have a tendency tocondense moisture from the air on their outer walls, particularly whenthe surrounding air is relatively warm and humid. The moisture socondensed on the glass rapidly accumulates to the point where dropletsform and water will drip from the glass. A variety of coasters have beendevised in the form of a tray or receptacle on which a glass may beremovably seated for the purpose of protecting a table or other articleof furniture on which the glass is to be placed but such coasters ofierno efiective protection to the user when the glass is lifted therefrom.Furthermore, such coasters tend to become unsightly in" use and have amarked-tendency to cling to the bottom of the, glass which isdisconcerting to the user since the coaster will spill and normally willdisengage and fall shortly after the glass is raised. To overcome theseobjections, it has been a common practice to employ coasters which canbe fitted to the glass or which include means whereby the coaster can besecurely attached to the glass. Such devices tend to becomecomparatively complicated and are generally unsatisfactory if for noother reason than because of the time and bother involved in attachingand detaching the coasters from the glass. Furthermore, the averageperson does not like to have a coaster attached to his drinking glassor, if he is unfamiliar with the kind of attached coaster in use, maybecome confused and try to remove the same, thinkingit is only one ofthe more tenaciously adherent coasters of the unattached va- 'riety.

The aim of the present invention is to provide a coaster which willovercome the disadvantages of the prior art which will be of theunattached variety on which the drinking glass may beeasily placed andfrom which it can be readilylifted, which will have no appreciabletendency to stick to the glass, which will be entirely efiective toprotect the furniture and the user, which will function effectively overlong periods of continued use, which is simple and economical tofabricate and assemble, and which is pleasing and ornamental inappearance.

Other objects will be in part obvious, and in part pointed out'more indetail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the fea- 2 tures of construction,combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will beexemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of theapplication of which will be indicated in the appended claims. I

In the drawings: I Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a coaster constructedin accordance with the present invention and showing a drinking'glassseated there- Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the coaster; Fig. 3 is anelevational view of the coaster; and Fig. 4 is av verticalcross-sectional view taken as indicated by the line i:l on Fig. 2.

l3 and an inner supporting wall IA forming a raised support for adrinking glass H. The size of the coaster tray is such that the outerperipheral wall l 3 is of greater diameter than the diameter of thedrinking glass with'which it is to be utilized so that the drinkingglass may be readily inserted therein and withdrawn as desired. Thediameter of the circular inner wall M is smaller thanthe diameter of thedrinking glass so that it will engage the bottom of the drinking glass.

, without having the entire upper edge of the wall [4 fall inwardly ofthe peripheral edge of the glass. The height of the inner wall It isless than the height of the outer wall it so that the glass will beprevented from sliding off the coaster. Theinner wall l -l in thespecific embodiment shown defines a through passageway 15 in thecoaster. As will be apparent, the inner wall It is of relatively thincross section and therefore has a relatively small surface contact areatouching the bottom of the drinking glass.

Disposed between the inner wall ill and outer wall i3 is an'annular pad[8 of highly absorbent material. In general, the more absorbent thematerial composing the pad Hi, the better the device will function.Furthermore, it is desired to use an absorbent material which will notbe subject to decomposition or undergo material dimensional changes as aresult of prolonged.

Referring to the drawings, the specific embodi- 3 contact with water. Wehave found that a particularly suitable material for this purpose is thesynthetic sponge-like material known in the trade as cellulose acetatesponge. Naturally occurring sponges or other sponge-like materials 5also are suitable.

In the specific embodiment, tlie pad l6 cut in the form' ofan annulussothat it may be readily inserted and removed from the coaster asdesired. The pad 16 is made sufiiciently thick 10 so that it willcontact the peripheral edge of the drinking glass when the glass isseated on the upper edge of the wall l4. Preferably thet'op of the pad[6 should be substantially" even with the upper edge of wall I4asshow-n' iii-Fig; of

the drawings. Then when the drinking glass is placed on the coasterthere will be a'simultane ous contact with the pad 18 and wall M which,

in the case of the latter, will usually produce'an audible clickassuring the user that the glass 20 has become secureiyseated. It: ispreferred-not to make the pad materially thicker than the height-oithewall M becaus'eothe'rwise anillusionlof instability is created'and'besidestheabsorbent sponge-like material becomes com-pressedand'will not absorb moisture readily from th'eedge 'of the glass;

In-order" that a plurality- 0f the coasters' may be stackedone"-uporranother" for storage pur poses when not in use, the upper edge ofthe' outer wall 13 1s flanged outwardly-as indicate'd'at l'ito receivethe-bottom of thec'oast'er-n'ext above.

As will lie-apparent; thisarrangement -will keep the coastersinalignmentandalso I will space the bottom of the-"upper coaster irom theupper edgeof the inner wall l4? Accordingly, asaresult'ofthe througlippen-ing I lrecirculation of air will occur'tothe pads l6 eventhough the coastersare in stacked relationship;- This is .a distinctadva ntageorthespecific embodiment 40 shown in" the drawings because it'--completely avoids the necessity for-drying the-coasters andparticularlythe pads l 6 prior to storage As a resultof"the construction*shown' inthedrawings 'and-as-ab'ove described, we have found- 5 that thecoaster-wilt have all of theadvantages desired" by the average-user andwillovercome I the disadvantages o-f-'-the prior-*art devices, particularly those specifically referred to above: When constructing th'einventi'omit Wat'sobservedthat thecondensation andaccumulation of moisture on the drinkingglass occursmrincipally on-= theperipheral wallof'the glass and conden'sation I on the surface-of thebottonrisnegligible; The moisturenormally iound on the bottomof drinkmg glassescontaining-iced beverages' resultsirom' a run-oli from thePSideWallpf"the glass or else is deposited thereon by the coaster orothersupporting surface on which the glass-is placed;

It has been discovered-that by placing. a highly 0;

absorbent material in contact with the peripheral edge of the'bottomof-the glass,+-the moi'stureac cumulating on the glass Will -bera'pidlyidrawn oil and absorbed before Q it 1 can accumulate to thepoint where the ='glasswill drip moisture,- and the accumulation ofwater on the bottom: surface of l the glass-isprevented; It hasbeen-further dis-- covered that by' supporting the :bottom surface ofthe glass inwardly of the peripheral edge with a support having:.,relatively;small contact surface area, the tendency of ithe-'glass-toadhereto the coaster :is "reduced to the-point where the weight of thecoaster, even though it is of very light construction will immediatelydisenasezthe coaster-iromrthe drinking glass-when the drinking glass israised. Furthermore, the inner supporting wall l4 prevents the drinkingglass from materially compressing the pad 15 of absorbent sponge-likematerial so that the absorbency of the pad is kept at a maximum and,even though the pad accumulates considerable quantities of water, itwill not be released when the drinking glass is inserted on the coaster,which otherwise would tend to deposit water on the glass. Since theabsorbent sponge-like materialof the pad I6 is not placed undercompression, itwill absorb great quantities of water and, even thoughthe pad isof' relatively small dimensions, iii-will adequately containall of the liquid that ordinarily will be drawn off from the drinkingglass over a normal period of use. Even though the pad-l6 s-hou-ldbecomesaturated with water, there would be no danger of damage to the table orother article of furniture on which the coaster is placed because theremaining portions of the coaster-form a protectivetray: or shellenclosing the padi It=has'- been found that-the 'absorption of waterfrom: the surface of the: drinking glass as a result of the coasterc'onstruction'oi our invention' is so efiicientand rapid-that; when thedrinking glass is removed from the coaster inor' der for the user todrink therefrom, there will be insufficient time 'for enough additionalmoisture to condense on the surface of the drinkin'gglas's' to' reachthe'dri'ppin'g stagepthis' being true even thoughthedrinking glass isnotrapidly returned to t the 1 coastera The tray' or shellportion' of thecoaster l0 may b'e' made 'of any suitable m'ateria'ldesired." Sheetmaterialssuch as aluminurn; brass or steel andmoldablepla'stic'materials are'am'on'g: those which maybesuccessfullyutilized, for example. Because of the simplicity of thecoaster, the'shell or-tr-ay' portion may be' easily. fabricated bymold-'ing; stamping-nor spinningprocesses; as will be apparent to one skilledin the art.

As m'anyrchanges could be made in"theabove' construction andmanyapparently widely difierentembodiments of "this invention could bemade without departing fromthe scope thereof, it is intended-thatall-matter contained in the above description or shown the-accompanyingdrawingssh-all be interpreted-as illustrative andnot in--alimitingsense.- a

It is-also tobe understood-that the language in the follow-ingiclaims-isintended-tocoverall of' wall of greater circumference than the drinkingglass to be seatedon the coaster so as to be spaced outwardlytherefrom,a rigid; centrally located,

vertically extending continuous wall disposed about apassage of lesserdiameter than the bottom of the drinking glass, said I inner wall beingof; lesser height than; theperipheral wall'and' forming a-support ofsmall contact area for the bottom of-the drinking glasswithin'the-periphery thereof; and a pad-of absorbent sponge-like-material which when wet is compressible by the weight of a drinkingglass,said pad being-die posed in the tray-between said walls and surrounding.;sa id passage andhaving a thickness substantiallylequal to the-heightof the inner wall but slightly higher when dry, said pad being'highenough to draw off water from the peripheral edge of the bottom of adrinking glass seated on the inner wall and being thin enough to permitthe weight of the glass to be supported substantially entirely by theinner wall. a

2. A-coaster for drinking glasses and the lik comprising a generallyannular tray having an outer peripheral wall of greater circumferencethan the drinking glass to be seated on the coaster so as to be spacedoutwardly therefrom and a rigid, vertically extending irmer wall of thincross-section surrounding a central through opening in the tray ofsmaller area than the bottom of a drinking glass, said inner wall beingof lesser height than the peripheral wall and the upper edge thereofforming a support of small contact area for the bottom of the drinkingglass substantially within the periphery thereof, and a pad of absorbentsponge-like material slightly compressible when wet, said pad beingdisposed in the tray between said walls and surrounding said opening,said pad having a thickness substantially equal to the height of theinner wall but slightly higher when dry so as to contact the peripheraledge of a drinking glass whose weight 25 is supported on said inner wallof'the tray.

3. A coaster in accordance with claim 2 in,

inner wall to permit the coaster to be stacked with similar coasterswith the bottom of the tray of the upper coaster seated on said surfaceof the lower coaster and spaced above the upper edge of the inner wallof the lower coaster so as to permit circulation of air to the pad ofabsorbent material of the lower coaster through the said centralopening.

GRACE L. RAYMOND.

HORACE H. RAYMOND.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1 508,140 Koch Nov. 7, 1893 652,268 Hofimann June 26, 1900715,828 Markmann Dec. 16, 1902 1,683,977 Keiner Sept. 11, 1928 2,041,563Meinecke May 19, 1936 2,113,888. Kaparin Apr. 12, 1938 2,345,784 WolcottApr. 4, 1944 2,561,127 Lockwood July 17, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS NumberCountry Date 8,647 Germany Feb. 26, 1880 578,281 France June 27, 1924725,715 France Feb. 16, 1932

